Colleen M. Fitzpatrick

{{infobox person

| name = Colleen M. Fitzpatrick

| birth_place = New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

| birth_date = {{birth_date and age|25 April 1955}}

| education = Rice University, Duke University

| occupation= Forensic scientist, genealogist

| known_for = Co-founder of the DNA Doe Project

}}

Colleen M. Fitzpatrick (born April 25, 1955) is an American forensic scientist, genealogist and entrepreneur. She helped identify remains found at the crash site of Northwest Flight 4422, that crashed in Alaska in 1948, and co-founded the DNA Doe Project which identifies previously unidentified bodies and runs Identifinders International, an investigative genetic genealogy consulting firm which helps identify victims and perpetrators of violent crimes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-were-cracking-cold-cases-dna-website-then-fine-print-n1070901|title=Police were cracking cold cases with a DNA website. Then the fine print changed}}

Early life and education

Colleen M. Fitzpatrick was born April 25, 1955U.S. Public Records Index, Vol. 2. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2010. in New Orleans, Louisiana. She received her BA in physics (1976) from Rice University, and her MA (1983) and PhD in nuclear physics (1983) from Duke University.Colleen Fitzpatrick in SPIE Professional April 2006. [https://spie.org/membership/spie-professional-magazine/spie-professional-archives-and-special-content/spie-professional-archives/archived-issues/april-2006/cover-story/from-the-garage-up From the Garage Up]Elisabeth Lindsay for GenWeekly. November 16, 2006 [http://www.genealogytoday.com/articles/reader.mv?ID=628 Forensic Genealogy: Seeing With New Eyes] For date, see index [http://www.genweekly.com/2006/GenWeekly_20061116.pdf here]

Career

She lectured at Sam Houston University for two years, before working on a laser radar system at Rockwell International and then high resolution optical measurement techniques at Spectron Development Laboratories.{{Cite web|url=https://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/the-true-story-of-two-women-using-dna-to-solve-americas-most-puzzling-cold-cases/Content?oid=25811514|title=The True Story of Two Women Using DNA to Solve America's Most Puzzling Cold Cases|last=Renner|first=James|date=2018-11-07|website=Cleveland Scene|language=en|access-date=2019-01-03}} She then founded, in her garage in 1986, Rice Systems, an optics company that did contract research and development.Lynn Rosellini for More Magazine. June 2010. [http://www.more.com/detective-forensic-genealogy From Physicist to Forensic Genealogist] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415072510/http://www.more.com/detective-forensic-genealogy |date=2016-04-15 }} (originally published in print as "The DNA Detective") Her company grew to employ seven scientists but closed in 2005 after NASA dropped the spaceship to Jupiter project on which the company had been working.

= Forensic genealogy =

Fitzpatrick had started writing a book about forensic genealogy in 2002, and after no publishers would accept it, she self-published the book in 2005.Bopp GK and Bopp TT. [https://jogg.info/pages/21/BoppReview.htm Book review: Forensic Genealogy]. Journal of Genetic Genealogy Spring 2006, Volume 2, Number 1. She started selling her book at genealogy conferences. She set up a corresponding website, and started writing columns on the topic for magazines and websites. In 2006, Hebron Investments asked her to find a missing person because someone wanted to buy land, but the title owner could not be found. This led to her trying to locate owners of unclaimed property in 75 cases (of which she found 73) in 30 countries.

Her next venture, Identifinders International, founded with her late partner Andy Yeiser (an engineering and business management consultant),{{Cite journal|last=Feder|first=Toni|date=2020-04-09|title=Q&A: Colleen Fitzpatrick, a physicist who cracks cold murder cases|url=https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.4.20200409a/full|journal=Physics Today|language=en|volume=2020|issue=4|pages=0409a|doi=10.1063/PT.6.4.20200409a|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web|last=Anderson|first=Dick|date=2019-10-15|title=The DNA Detective|url=https://magazine.rice.edu/2019/10/the-dna-detective/|access-date=2020-07-24|website=Rice Magazine, Texas|language=en-US}} she uses the techniques of forensic genealogy to identify victims and perpetrators of violent crimes, as well as Jane/John Doe cases where the body has been left unidentified for as long as decades sometimes. In 2007 she helped identify the body of a child about two years old that died in the 1912 Titanic disaster as Sidney Leslie Goodwin from England, aged 19 months, whose family had died in the wreck and had relatives in New Zealand.{{Cite web|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/dunedin-cabbie-linked-titanic-victim|title=Dunedin cabbie linked with 'Titanic' victim|last=Gibb|first=John|date=2014-06-13|website=Otago Daily Times |language=en|access-date=2019-07-27}} In 2008 she helped identify the remains found in the wreckage of Northwest Flight 4422 that crashed in Alaska in 1948.Sean Flynn for Duke Magazine. May 15, 2013 [http://dukemagazine.duke.edu/article/super-sleuth Super Sleuth]Mary Pemberton for the Associated Press, published at MSNBC.com. August 18, 2008 [https://web.archive.org/web/20160305071957/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26265141/ Remains from 1948 plane crash identified] That same year she helped expose Misha Defonseca's book "Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years" as a fraud.{{Cite journal|last=Rosen|first=Judith|date=2009-01-12|title=Does Publishing Need Genealogists?|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20090112/1490-does-publishing-need-genealogists.html|journal=Publishers Weekly|volume=256|issue=2}} Fitzpatrick and Sharon Sergeant also exposed as a fraud Herman Rosenblat's book Angel at the Fence (which claimed to be about Rosenblat's Holocaust survival). In 2020, Dr. Fitzpatrick of Identifinders International and The Porchlight Project helped Ohio police identify James Zastawnick as a suspect in the 1987 murder by strangulation of 17-year-old Barbara Blatnik.{{Cite web|title=Cleveland man arrested in cold case murder of girl, 17, nearly 33 years ago|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/cleveland-man-arrested-in-cold-case-murder-of-girl-17-nearly-33-years-ago|last=Gearty|first=Robert|date=2020-05-08|website=Fox News|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-14}}

In 2014, Fitzpatrick helped police narrow down the list of suspects to five men with the surname Miller for the murder in Phoenix, Arizona of Angela Brosso, 22, in 1992, and the murder of Melanie Bernas, 17, in 1993 ("The Canal Killer").{{Cite web|url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2016/11/30/how-forensic-genealogy-led-arrest-phoenix-canal-killer-case-bryan-patrick-miller-dna/94565410/|title=How forensic genealogy led to an arrest in the Phoenix 'Canal Killer' case|last=Cassidy|first=Megan|date=2016-11-30|website=azcentral|language=en|access-date=2019-01-03}} Police found there was only one possibility and DNA testing confirmed that Bryan Patrick Miller matched DNA from the killer. In 2015 Miller was arrested and charged with the two murders. Miller had been a suspect at the time of the murders, but released for lack of evidence. Miller was also later charged with the 2012 murder of 13-year-old Briana Naylor.{{Cite web|url=https://superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/media-relations/high-profile-list/?q=&t=7|title=Case Number : CR2015102066|date=2019-07-07|website=The Judicial Branch of Arizona in Maricopa County|access-date=2019-07-07}} Fitzpatrick believes this was the first cold case solved by genetic genealogy.

In 2015 Fitzpatrick, Cece Moore and a team of adoption researchers helped Benjaman Kyle, an amnesiac since 2004, find his identity (William Burgess Powell) and family members.{{Cite news|last=Wolfe|first=Matt|date=2016-11-21|title=The Last Unknown Man|work=The New Republic|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/138068/last-unknown-man|access-date=2020-06-22|issn=0028-6583}}

In 2016, Fitzpatrick played a role in establishing the true identity of Lori Erica Ruff, a woman who had assumed a false identity in 1988 and committed suicide in 2010, after which her husband's family discovered she had stolen the identity of a deceased child. Ruff turned out to be Kimberly McLean, who had severed all ties with her family and adopted a new identity to avoid being located by them.{{Cite news|url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/special-reports/my-god-thats-kimberly-online-sleuth-solves-perplexing-mystery-of-identity-thief-lori-ruff/|title='My God, that's Kimberly!': Scientist solves perplexing mystery of identity thief Lori Ruff|date=2016-09-21|newspaper=The Seattle Times|access-date=2016-10-11}}

In 2018 and 2019, she helped Rapid City, South Dakota police with the case of the rape and murder by strangulation of 60-year-old Gwen Miller in 1968. Using Y-DNA, Fitzpatrick narrowed the possible suspects down to 6-7 men with the surname Field. Local police were then able to identify Eugene Field as the prime suspect. Field had already died in 2009 from cancer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/c1wom3/genetic_genealogy_leads_to_suspect_in_1968_south/|title=Genetic genealogy leads to suspect in 1968 South Dakota murder of Gwen Miller|date=June 2019|website=Reddit|language=en|access-date=2019-07-24}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2019/06/17/rapid-city-police-solve-51-year-old-cold-case-help-genealogy-gwen-miller/1481518001/|title=Rapid City police solve 51-year-old cold case with help of genealogy|last=Mitchell|first=Trevor|date=2019-06-17|website=Sioux Falls Argus Leader|language=en|access-date=2019-07-24}}

In 2020 she helped Orange County, California police identify the body of a young woman who had been found in 1968 beaten, raped and her throat cut near Huntington Beach as 26-year-old Anita Louise Piteau.{{Cite news|last=Levenson|first=Michael|date=2020-07-23|title=A Half-Century Later, Police Identify a Homicide Suspect and His Victim|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/us/anita-louise-piteau-johnny-chrisco.html|access-date=2020-07-24|issn=0362-4331}}

= DNA Doe Project =

In 2017 she co-founded with Margaret Press the DNA Doe Project which has the aim of identifying dead adults for their families{{Cite journal|last=Hayden|first=Erika Check|date=2019-01-18|title=Genetics extends the long arm of the law|url=https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/technology/2019/genetics-extends-long-arm-law|journal=Knowable Magazine|doi=10.1146/knowable-011819-1|doi-access=free}} (they avoid investigating dead children because the mothers of such children might be very young themselves and might be victims of incest or rape).{{Cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/story/dna-crime-solving-is-still-new-yet-it-may-have-gone-too-far/|title=DNA Crime-Solving Is Still New, Yet It May Have Gone Too Far|last=Molteni|first=Megan|date=2019-03-14|work=Wired|access-date=2019-03-15|issn=1059-1028}} In June 2020 she resigned from the project.{{Cite web|date=2020-06-12|title=DNA Doe Project|url=https://www.facebook.com/DNADoeProject/posts/2634944916764277|access-date=2020-06-22|website=Facebook|language=en}}

Their first success in 2018 was identifying the dead "Buckskin Girl" in Ohio as belonging to Marcia King from Arkansas.{{Cite news|url=https://www.forensicmag.com/news/2018/04/buck-skin-girl-case-break-success-new-dna-doe-project|title='Buck Skin Girl' Case Break Is Success of New DNA Doe Project|last=Augenstein|first=Seth|date=2018-04-16|work=Forensic Magazine|access-date=2018-04-30|language=en}} They also identified the bodies of "Lyle Stevik",{{Cite news|url=https://www.forensicmag.com/news/2018/05/dna-doe-project-ids-2001-motel-suicide-using-genealogy|title=DNA Doe Project IDs 2001 Motel Suicide, Using Genealogy|date=2018-05-09|work=Forensic Magazine|access-date=2018-06-22|language=en}} "Joseph Newton Chandler III" (Robert Nichols),{{Cite news|url=https://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2018/06/authorities_solve_cold_case_of.html|title=Authorities solve cold case of war hero who hid behind dead boy's identity|last=Caniglia|first=John|date=2018-06-21|work=cleveland.com|access-date=2018-06-22|language=en-US}} "Alfred Jake Fuller",{{Cite web|url=https://www.forensicmag.com/news/2019/01/dna-doe-project-names-3-more-notes-case-patterns|title=DNA Doe Project Names 3 More, Notes Case Patterns|last=Augenstein|first=Seth|date=2019-01-10|website=Forensic Magazine|language=en|access-date=2019-01-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190110231946/https://www.forensicmag.com/news/2019/01/dna-doe-project-names-3-more-notes-case-patterns|archive-date=2019-01-10|url-status=dead}} "Anaheim Jane Doe" (Tracey Hobson){{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/jane-doe-murder-victim-finally-identified-decades-forensic/story?id=60447563|title=Murder victim identified 3 decades later thanks to forensic technology: Sheriff|last=Shapiro|first=Emily|date=2019-01-17|website=ABC News|language=en|access-date=2019-01-24}} and "Washoe County or Sheep Flats Jane Doe" in 2018 (Mary Silvani).{{Cite web|url=https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2019/05/07/sheeps-flat-jane-doe-sheriff-announce-major-breakthrough/1130650001/|title=Sheep's Flat Jane Doe: DNA identifies victim, suspect in 1982 killing|last=Corona|first=Marcella|date=2019-05-07|website=Reno Gazette Journal|language=en|access-date=2019-05-09}}

In 2019, they identified the bodies of "Lavender Doe" (Dana Dodd),{{Cite web|url=http://www.kltv.com/2019/02/11/east-texas-officials-release-identify-lavender-doe/|title=East Texas officials release identity of Lavender Doe|date=2019-02-11|website=KLTV Texas|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-12}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.kltv.com/2019/01/31/dna-reveals-identity-victim-lavender-doe/|title=DNA reveals identity of victim 'Lavender Doe'|last=Hallmark|first=Bob|date=2019-01-30|website=KLTV|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-02}} "Rock County John Doe,"{{Cite web|url=https://www.beloitdailynews.com/news/20190228/body_found_in_1995_tentativelyidentified_|title=Body found in 1995 tentatively identified|last=Austin|first=Montgomery|date=2019-02-28|website=Beloit Daily News, Michigan|language=en|access-date=2019-03-09}} "Butler County Jane Doe" (Darlene Wilson Norcross),{{Cite web|url=https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/butler-county/west-chester/woman-found-dead-in-2015-identified-as-west-chester-twp-resident|title=How West Chester 'Jane Doe' could help other missing persons|last=Hanford-Ostman|first=Emily|date=2019-03-07|website=WCPO, Cincinnati|language=en|access-date=2019-03-09}} "Annie Doe" (Anne Marie Lehman),{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/girl-found-dead-50-years-ago-jane-annie/story?id=61708041|title=Girl found dead in 1971 is finally identified through novel DNA technique|last=Shapiro|first=Emily|date=2019-03-15|website=ABC News|language=en|access-date=2019-03-15}} “Vicky Dana Jane Doe” (Dana Nicole Lowrey),{{Cite web|url=https://www.10tv.com/article/officials-identify-remains-woman-believed-be-shawn-grates-first-victim-2019-jun|title=Officials identify remains of woman believed to be Shawn Grate's first victim|last=Bailey|first=Brittany|date=2019-06-04|website=WBNS-10TV Columbus, Ohio News, Weather & Sports|language=en|access-date=2019-06-07|archive-date=8 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608064756/https://www.10tv.com/article/officials-identify-remains-woman-believed-be-shawn-grates-first-victim-2019-jun|url-status=dead}} "Belle in the Well" (Louise Virginia Peterson Flesher),{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/07/belle-well-dna/594976/|title=She Was Found Strangled in a Well, and Now She Has a Name|last=Zhang|first=Sarah|date=2019-07-29|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-30}} "Orange Socks" (Debra Jackson),{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/crime/2019/08/08/abilene-woman-debra-jackson-identified-orange-socks-victim-found-dead-georgetown-austin-40-years-ago/1952874001/|title=Texas police identify 'Orange Socks' woman dead for 40 years as Abilene woman|last=Gutschke|first=Laura|date=2019-08-08|website=USA Today|language=en|access-date=2019-08-10}} "I-96 Jane Doe" (Marcia Kaylynn Bateman),{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsjm.com/2019/11/22/1988s-i-196-jane-identified-as-missing-oklahoma-city-woman/|title=1988's I-196 Jane Identified As Missing Oklahoma City Woman|date=2019-11-22|website=WSJM, Michigan|access-date=2019-11-28}} the "Mill Creek Shed Man" (Nathaniel Terrence Deggs),{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/after-1900-hours-of-research-mill-creek-mans-name-is-found/|title=The mystery of the man in the Mill Creek shed is solved|last=Hutton|first=Caleb|date=2019-12-23|website=HeraldNet, Everett, Washington|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-28}} "Phoenix Jane Doe" (Bertha Alicia Holguín Barroterán),{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/phoenix-police-detectives-solve-22-year-old-cold-case|title=Phoenix police detectives solve 22-year-old cold case|last=Navarrete|first=Karla|date=2019-12-09|website=KNXV - ABC 15, Arizona|language=en|access-date=2020-01-05}} "Marion County Jane Doe" (Michelle E. Carnall-Burton),{{Cite web|url=http://www.forensicmag.com/559237-Kansas-Bureau-of-Investigation-Doe-Project-ID-Woman-Killed-in-1987/|title=Kansas Bureau of Investigation, DNA Doe Project ID Woman Killed in 1987|date=2019-12-26|website=Forensic Magazine|language=en|access-date=2019-12-28}} "Barron County John Doe" (William “Billy” Arthur Fiegener){{Cite web|url=https://www.community-news.com/2019/12/new-technology-helps-id-victim-in-35-year-old-cold-murder-case/|title=New technology helps ID victim in 35-year-old cold murder case|last=Parker County Sheriff’s Dept.|date=2019-12-25|website=The Community News|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-08}} and "Clark County John Doe", the remains of a headless man in an Idaho cave identified as a suspected murderer (Joseph Henry Loveless) who had died about 100 years before, probably in 1916.{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/01/02/he-escaped-jail-after-killing-his-wife-century-ago-now-his-headless-torso-has-been-identified-through-dna/|title=He escaped from jail after allegedly killing his wife a century ago. Now his headless torso has been identified through DNA.|last=Brockell|first=Gillian|date=2020-01-02|website=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2020-01-05}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.isu.edu/news/2019-fall/clark-county-john-doe-discovered-in-1979-identified-by-isu-unh-and-dna-doe-project-researchers.html|title=Clark County John Doe discovered in 1979 identified by ISU, UNH and DNA DOE Project researchers|date=2019-11-13|website=Idaho State University|language=en|access-date=2019-12-28}}

In 2020, her team identified the bodies of "Barron County John Doe" (Kraig Patrick King),{{Cite web|url=http://leaderregister.com/human-remains-from-identified-sheriff-continues-homicide-investigatio-p2140-90.htm|title=Human remains from 1982 identified, sheriff continues homicide investigation|last=Fitzgerald|first=Chris|date=2020-01-07|website=Leader Register Wisconsin|access-date=2020-01-24}} the "Corona Girl" (Sue Ann Huskey),{{Cite web|url=https://www.fox7austin.com/news/williamson-county-sheriffs-office-identifies-corona-girl-as-17-year-old-from-sulphur-springs|title=Williamson County Sheriff's Office identifies "Corona Girl" as 17-year-old from Sulphur Springs|last=Koski|first=Rudy|date=2020-01-14|website=FOX 7 Austin|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-24}} "Peoria County John Doe" (John H. Frisch, Jr.),{{Cite web|url=https://newschannel20.com/news/local/skull-torso-found-on-illinois-river-shore-identified|title=Skull, torso found along Illinois River identified|date=2020-01-28|website=ABC News Channel24|access-date=2020-01-29}} the "Lime Lady" (Tamara Lee Tigard).{{Cite web|url=https://oklahoman.com/article/5653702/in-oklahoman-a-cold-case-heats-up-oklahoma-county-sheriffs-office-says-they-have-identified-victim-of-homicide-40-years-ago/|title=In Oklahoma, a cold case heats up: Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office says they have identified victim of homicide 40 years ago|last=Dulaney|first=Josh|date=2020-01-31|website=The Oklahoman|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-01}} and a Jane Doe in Phoenix, Arizona (Ginger Lynn Bibb) {{Cite web|title=DNA Doe Project IDs 2004 Jane Doe in 48 Hours|url=http://www.forensicmag.com/560849-DNA-Doe-Project-IDs-2004-Jane-Doe-in-48-Hours/|last=Taylor|first=Michele|date=2020-02-18|website=Forensic|language=en|access-date=2020-05-14}} and was involved in the identification of Joseph Augustus Zarelli.

= Professional associations =

She is a Fellow of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)SPIE. [http://spie.org/x24015.xml Complete List of SPIE Fellows] and an Associate Member of the American Academy of Forensic Science.{{Cite web|title=Colleen Fitzpatrick|url=https://www.apgen.org:443/profiles/colleen-fitzpatrick|access-date=2020-07-24|website=Association of Professional Genealogists}} In 2021, Dr. Fitzpatrick was made a full member of the Vidocq Society, make her one of 82 full members, a number set by the society's charter.

Selected works

;Books

Forensic Genealogy, with Andrew Yeiser, Fountain Valley, CA: Rice Book Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-9767160-0-3}}
DNA and Genealogy, with Andrew Yeiser, Fountain Valley, CA: Rice Book Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-9767160-1-1}}
The Dead Horse Investigation: Forensic Photo Analysis for Everyone, Fountain Valley, CA: Rice Book Press, 2008. {{ISBN|0-9767160-5-4}}
The DNA Detective,

;Book chapters

{{cite book |chapter=The Key is the Camera |title=The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book: Creative Ways to Outsmart Your Elusive Ancestors |year=2006 |publisher=DeadFred.com |isbn=1-4243-0209-9}}